A Tale of Two Sisters
by YellowRoseOfTexas
Summary: The sequel to "Janine's Story." Summary inside. Chapter 5: But This Was Janine
1. The Tale Begins

**Title:** A Tale of Two Sisters 

**Other Info:** Sequel to Janine's Story 

**Author:** Yellow Rose of Texas 

**Rating:** PG 

**Summary:** Joy and Jyll Yamakawa are two sisters who don't understand each other. Their aunt Claudia and mother Janine have been there before. Hard times brought Claudia and Janine together. When Jyll and Joy experience a similar trial, will the result be the same?   
  


* * *

  
  


"...Therefore, of course, the equation is balanced when both sides contain the same amount of each element. Most of you seem to understand this, but some of you seem to be trouble coming up with the correct numbers to balance out..." 

Joyanna Yamakawa picked up a piece of what her chemistry teacher was saying, but he soon faded into the background as her own thoughts took over. She really ought to have been paying more attention since he was going over the daily quiz that had just been handed back. 

But who could be expected to pay attention at a time like this? Today was a very important day. As soon as her final class (this class) was over, she would race over to the drama room. Why? Posted on the door would be the cast for the fall play. Aside from the one-act play in the spring, the fall play was the single most important thing to the drama students at Stoneybrook High School. And this year, it looked like Joyanna, who was usually called Joy, just might get the lead. 

Someone sitting behind her gently kicked her heel. Joy responded by furtively placing her cupped hand behind her chair. She was rewarded with a folded up piece of paper, compliments of her newest friend whose name was Michelle. 

It said: "Could this class get any longer? Race you to the drama room when the bell rings!" 

Michelle was another drama student who had transferred to Stoneybrook at the beginning of the year. The friendship between Joy and Michelle was only a week old, but it seemed like they had been friends much longer. Both girls were competing for roles in the fall play, but luckily, they were not competing against each other for the lead. Michelle had decided to go for a different part instead, saying it was a much better showcase of her talents. 

"...faced with an odd number of oxygen atoms on one side and an even number on the other side, you would then double..." 

Joy glanced down at her quiz as though she were following along and once again, she winced at the failing grade that was staring back at her. Sure, it was just a quiz. But if it was any indication of what her future test grades would be like, Joy knew she had better figure out the reason why anyone would even care whether or not the equation was balanced, in addition to figuring out how to do it. 

_Ding - ding - ding..._

The bell! Stoneybrook High School had just installed a new bell. Instead of the traditional _Brrrriiing!_ sound, the new bell simply dinged. Seven times to be exact. It was especially helpful to a student trying to be on time to class. Many times, Joy had just barely made it into her seat by the time the bell had uttered its final ding. 

Upon hearing it, Joy had to literally bite her own tongue to hold back cried of celebration. She couldn't help remembering that the last time she had expressed herself in that way at the end of the day, she had been given the assignment of writing an essay about the importance of decorum in the classroom. 

It was Friday! Not only that, but they had a three-day weekend; Monday was Labor day. _At last, the dreaded first week of school is over. And now... to the drama room!_   
  


* * *

  
  


Jyllina Yamakawa scribbled furiously in her notebook. At last, a challange had been prescribed to the curious young girl who had been waiting for one all week. After a terribly repetitive lesson in solving for more than one variable in an equation, the teacher finally put an especially long equation on the board and promised to reward the student who answered first. 

_High school doesn't seem much different than middle school thus far,_ Jyll thought bitterly, while solving for the last variable._The first week is still a tedious review._

Jyllina, who was usually called Jyll, shot her hand up in the air. She looked around the room and noticed that noone else had put their hand up yet. She had been first! In fact, the other students did not appear interested in being the first to solve the algebraic equation. A couple of girls were passing notes; one boy was secretly playing a game of Snake on his cell phone. 

"Jyllina," her teacher, Mrs. Wheaton said. "Would you tell us your answers?" 

"X equals 17," Jyll spoke softly, always embarrassed about having to speak in front of a large group of people. Particularly, the high school students who were two or three or even four years older than she was. "Y equals 8. And Z equals 2.5." 

"Very good," Mrs. Wheaton smiled as she spoke. "I am impressed that you were able to solve such a complex equation so quickly. Who would ever believe that you were only twelve?" She stuck a blowpop on Jyllina's desk as her "reward." 

"More like ten, from the looks of her," a voice whispered. The whisper was loud enough for Jyll to hear and apparently, that was the intention. Jyll felt her cheeks growing hot. It was true she was small and wore young-looking clothes, but she was sure that she looked older than ten. 

_Don't I?_

Just then, the bell sounded. Jyll gathered up her books slowly, while the other students (most of whom had put their books away when they noticed that school would be out soon) rushed for the door, talking loudly all at once, all of them eager for a long weekend of freedom. 

"Mrs. Wheaton," Looking at her shoes instead of her teacher, Jyll spoke in a voice so soft, it was nearly a whisper. "I should tell you... I'm thirteen now. Today is my birthday." 

"Oh!" Mrs. Wheaton mused. "Forgive me, dear. Happy Birthday." 

"Yes ma'am, thank you," a faint smile appeared on the lips of the shy girl. And then, in her usual quiet way, she gave a little wave as she slipped out the door. 

Hazel Wheaton shook her head slightly out of sympathy for the girl. She had overheard the comment made earlier that was meant to be out of her earshot. And many other similar comments had preceded that one in the past week. Her youngest pupil may have been capable of the work, but Hazel wasn't so sure she was ready for the tough environment of high school. In fact, it was doubtful as to whether the girl would ever be ready, from the looks of her. 

_So different from her sister,_ Hazel thought. She remembered the older one, Joyanna, who had been in her Algebra class two years ago. The one who had been talkative and popular, yet unattentive and unenthusiastic and had barely managed to make a C in the class. 

Sisters with no common ground. 

Polar opposites. 

Where had she seen such a pair before? 

Hazel, who was getting older now and closer to retirement, let her mind wander back to a time, more than twenty years ago, when a similar pair had resided at Stoneybrook High School. 

_Janine and Claudia Kishi._

The only difference in this new case of opposites and the first was that the older sister had been the shy genius and the younger had been the popular one with poor study habits. 

She wasn't sure which was the stranger case... the case of the mother and her sister or the case of her two daughters.   
  


* * *

  
  


"Hey, guys, what's..." Lacey McMill stopped, looking very puzzled as two of her friends flew past her without so much as a hello. She watched them go, slightly annoyed at being brushed off. 

"Can't talk!" Michelle called over her shoulder. "Drama room! Casting!" 

"Oh!" Lacey remembered their conversation at lunch; this was a big day for her friends. She promptly hoisted her bookbag over her shoulder and joined in on the chase. On the way, she passed another friend, Christi Thompson. 

"Casting!" Lacey reminded her. 

"Oh, yeah!" Christi eagerly joined the dash to the drama room. 

Joy halted at the cast list to wait for the others who had gotten stuck in the hallway traffic and were a few paces behind her. She refrained from glancing at the list until Michelle and her other friends had caught up. Her heart pounded as she contemplated her reaction if she won the role and then... her reaction if she did not. 

She had plenty of experience in not getting the role she wanted. Last year, she had played a maid in the fall-show and child #2 in the one-act play. The year before, she had been a crew member and an alternate for both shows. Of course, those were good experiences. Humbling ones, too. Now, however, she was an upperclassman and nearly all of the people who won the big roles in the past shows had graduated. It was her time to shine. 

"Ready for this?" Michelle looked equally nervous. 

"When you are," Joy wrung her hands, her eyes dying to look just to her right. 

"Okay, look!" 

Collectively, they looked. And gasped. 


	2. Thirteen

"Mama, I did it! I did it!" 

When Jyll and Joy returned home at the end of their school-day, their mother Janine had already been home alone for a couple of hours; Fridays were a wonderful relief for Janine because she only taught two classes that day, and then she returned home early for the weekend. 

Janine Yamakawa was a physics professor at Yale University where she had earned all three of her degrees, her Bachelor's, her Master's, and her Ph.D. This year, Janine had even more to be thankful for; she was taking over the position as head of the physics department at Yale. The position had been left open in May, and Janine was one of many applicants. She was pleased to have been selected, but it was turning out to be a pretty busy job in itself, and Janine wondered if she should opt for teaching even fewer classes next semester. She was awfully tired at the end of the day, even on Friday. 

It had been a long road to getting a Ph.D, especially with her first daughter in tow before she earned her Master's, and her second while she was working on the Ph.D. The plan hadn't been to have children until much later in their marriage, but she and her husband managed just the same. All had worked out for the best. As Janine liked to say, "God was on our side." 

"I did it!" 

Janine had nearly jumped out of her skin when her oldest daughter came thudding into the house, yelling about something. It wasn't unsual for Joyanna to be this loud. Joy had just come home from school, but you'd have thought she'd just been let out of prison. She had what her father James liked call "life presence." He had coined the term after several people who had seen Joy in plays at church and school told him that she had great stage presence. He would laugh and say, "That's our Joy. Loud, dramatic and in the spotlight. Every day of her life." 

"That's great, sweetheart..." Janine said, slowly. "Did - what now?" 

The sixteen year old's expression went from complete exuberance to downright disbelief. She gaped at her mother. 

"Did what? Only the single most awesome thing I've ever done!" Joy was speaking with her hands again, something she did often. It usually meant that she was either excited or flustered. "I did it; I'm Nora!" 

Janine suddenly remembered the casting for Joy's play, and felt terrible over the fact that it had completely slipped her mind. She didn't even have a card ready. Janine liked to give cards to her daughters on any and all special occasions. When it was something like getting a role for a show that could go one of two ways, Janine sometimes bought two cards: one for congratulations, and one for better luck next time. 

Lately, though, Janine just didn't feel like she was quite all _there._ It was a bit disturbing to a person like Janine who usually had a hold on things. The extra responsibilities at work, she decided, were taking their toll. 

"In _A Doll's Horse_, of course," Janine replied quickly and was startled when her daughter burst out laughing as though she had said something funny. 

"_A Doll's HORSE?_" Joy laughed at the mix-up. "You mean _house_, mother. _ A Doll's House_ by Henrick Ibsen. He was one of the most well-known modern playwrights. And we're doing his show! AND _I_ GOT THE LEAD!" 

Janine smiled at hearing her daughter spout off some facts about Ibsen. Joy wasn't the greatest student. _(I've seen much worse_, Janine thought, thinking of Claudia.) But anyone could see that she was very bright. And she was destined for great things... if she would just work a little harder sometimes. _Particularly in math and science._

Kissing her daughter's cheek, she said, "I'm so proud of you, Joyanna." Joy beamed, and then her mother added: "Now where did your sister go?" 

"Up to her room," Joy casually tossed off the usual response. "To study." 

"To study?" Janine shook her head. "On the weekend? On her _birthday?_ With her relatives arriving later?" Janine's volume level increased and became more incredulous with each question. Then she paused and chuckled at herself for being the least bit shocked. If anyone could relate to the real reason why Jyll studied as much as she did, it was Janine. 

"_Jyllina Sherice!_" Janine called her younger daughter from the bottom of the stairs. Then she sat down on the bottom step, and shook her head, laughing lightly to herself. "Too much. She's too much like me." 

"And what about me?" Joy asked. 

"You're- 

"Too much like Aunt Claudia," Joy spoke at the same time as her mother, having known full-well what she was about to say. Sometimes Joy wished she could have known her mother and her aunt when they were younger. Then she could see for herself whether or not the notion that she and Jyll were "too much like" them was true.   
  


* * *

  
  


To say that Jyll wasn't having a very good birthday was an understatement. Indeed, Jyll had run up to her room to open her books to pick up where she had left off with her algebra homework. Homework: It was a good way to avoid thinking about things. 

High school wasn't anything like what Jyll had hoped for. And even worse, she regretted ever wanting to skip eighth grade when her counselor had suggested it in the first place. Maybe her counselor had made a bad choice. Jyll wasn't ready for high school. She simply wasn't old enough. Today, she was a year older, true. But in her eighth grade class, she had been the youngest student. And now she was more than an entire year younger than the rest of the freshman class. 

_More like ten, from the looks of her._

Those were such harsh words. How could anyone say such a nasty thing to someone they didn't even know? Jyll had dealt with cruel words in the past, but somehow it was even worse when the person was two or three years older and also a complete stranger. And this time, it seemed that no one would come to her rescue. Not even her own sister. 

"Do I really look ten?" Jyll whispered to her reflection, looking at herself in her full-length mirror. Why a person like Jyllina would have a full-length mirror was a mystery. The reason was that her mother bought her room furniture and put it there, naturally. But Jyll hardly ever scrutinized her own appearance. Certainly not to the extent of, oh say, her older sister. Looks and clothes just weren't important to her. 

Turning away from the mirror, she noticed the birthday card from her Uncle Zach and Aunt Mindy and picked it up. She was going to have to open it in front of her relatives later, but she wanted a chance to read it in private. 

Her father's youngest brother, Zachary, lived in Japan with his wife of three years, Mindy. His major during college had been International Studies and Politics, with a minor in Japanese. He met his wife because she was taking similar classes, majoring in Japanese herself. Shortly after they were married they went to live in Japan to teach Japanese-speaking children English. They didn't have any children of their own yet. Zach had recently turned 30, but he claimed that he still felt like a college student. 

Theirs was a fascinating lifestyle. Jyll often thought she wanted to be just like her uncle and aunt when she grew up. For a thirteen year old, Jyll was awfully mature, already thinking seriously about where she wanted to go to college and what she wanted to study. Jyll hoped that college would be different. Maybe she wouldn't feel like she was the only one who cared so much about school. 

_And maybe by the time I'm in college, I'll look thirteen_, Jyll thought cynically. She ripped open her birthday card which contained thirteen American dollars and also some Japanese currency for her to keep. 

"Dear Jyllina," the card said. "Thirteen years old! And every day, looking more and more like a young lady. We are so proud of you, Jyll. When your mom and dad told us that you were going to be in high school this year, we were so excited for you. What a great opportunity! We know we can expect amazing things from you. Happy Birthday! Wish we could be there to give this to you in person. We'll be home for Christmas, though. We love you very much. Uncle Zach and Aunt Mindy." 

Jyll smiled. 

_"Jyllina Sherice!"_ An instant later, her mom was calling to her from the bottom of the stairs. Jyll heard her loud and clear, and so did her father, James who was upstairs in the study. He ventured out, and peeked his head into Jyll's door, which was cracked open. 

"Jylly-bean?" Her dad flashed her a goofy grin, and called her by that silly, affectionate nickname that both embarrassed her and made her feel loved. Jyll couldn't help giving him the same goofy grin. People said she looked like her dad. 

"I think the birthday girl had better get her head out of her books and get downstairs!" He shook his finger in mock sternness. "C'mon, now. Can't keep Mom waiting." 


	3. Oddly Matched Sisters

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Dear Jyllina. Happy Birthday to you!" 

The family and a couple of friends serenaded Jyll as she blew out her camera, and Janine snapped a picture. 

"The family" sitting in the dining room included Joyanna, Janine, and James; two sets of grandparents, John and Rioko on Janine's side of the family and Robert and Sherice on James's side of the family; Peaches, Russ and their daughters, Lynn and Kira (first cousins once removed to Jyll and Joy); and finally, Aunt Claudia. Janine had to bring in extra folding tables and chairs in an attempt to fit the group into the room. 

A couple of friends included two kids in Jyll's eighth grade class whom she remained close to. Her only good friends were a girl named Gretchen Harris and a boy named Isaac Mitchell. And now that Jyll was in the ninth grade, she spent even less time with them than before. 

Now that Janine's casual supper of hotdogs and queso dip had been eaten and the cake had been extinguished, fourteen pairs of eyes stared hungrily at the treat from the Stoneybrook Bake Shoppe. However, there was the Yamakawa tradition to keep in mind: Presents first, cake-eating second. (The Kishis had never had any tradition governing birthdays, and so the other family won in the end.) 

"Here Jyll," Lynn Benedict passed her a small gift bag. "This is from Kira and me." The two girls smiled, resembling each other an awful lot when they did. 

The Benedict sisters were half Japanese, half Irish/Caucasian; their mother Peaches was Japanese and their father Russ had red hair and freckles. The girls each had slightly almond shaped eyes, creamy skin, dark reddish colored hair, and even a few freckles. Their brother, Russ, Jr. had a smile that would have matched his sisters if he had been present at the gathering. 

At twenty-two, Lynn Benedict was actually too old to be called a girl. When Janine was sixteen and Claudia was thirteen, Lynn had become their first cousin, and they adored her. Now "the world's cutest baby" had grown into a beautiful young woman. Lynn was now a graduate student at Southern Connecticut State University, working on her Master's degree in speech-language pathology and audiology. Her job would allow her to help people, and that was Lynn's ambition in life. She wanted to work in a hospital with patients who had suffered strokes and teach them how to read, write, and speak again. She had been inspired to choose the career by the stories she had been told about her grandmother, Mimi. Lynn never met her grandmother because she passed away when Lynn was still a baby. Mimi had suffered a stroke in her old age and died less than a year later. As far as the Kishis and the Benedicts were concerned, Mimi now watched over them from Heaven. 

"There's something else," Kira gestured to the gift bag. Jyll had already pulled out a small, silver pair of earrings. She reached down deeper, and pulled out two silver sticks. "Chopsticks for your hair!" 

Kira gestured to her own hair, and Jyll laughed; she was wearing a pair just like the ones she had given Jyll only hers were red. It was obviously a tiny hint, too; Jyll never did anything interesting with her hair, and she had pierced ears but they had almost grown closed twice because she hardly ever bothered with earrings. Kira thought that Jyll could look rather stunning if she tried. 

Kira had an eye-catching fashion sense like Joyanna. Right now, the two girls were seated next to each other at the table, and their styles did have a lot in common. Joy was wearing an army-green skirt, a tan shirt, and a denim jacket with clunky tan sandals. Kira looked similar in dark jeans with a red belt, a black V-neck shirt, black boots and her long hair held in a loose bun with the red chopsticks. Besides having style, Kira was a good student. (If you put Joy and Jyll together, you'd have Kira.) She was only a couple of years older than Joy, even though she was Janine's cousin. Kira's mother, Peaches claimed she felt way too young to actually be a great-aunt to Joy and Jyll. Kira was now freshman at Southern Connecticut State University. She lived in an apartment near campus with her sister Lynn, and it was working out just fine. Lynn and Kira got along better now that they were older. Kira realized that there was a lot she could learn from Lynn now that she too was in college. 

Besides Lynn and Kira, there was also Russ who was studying pre-med at Penn. State, having chosen to stray a bit farther from home for college. And those were the three Benedict kids, Lynn, Russ, and Kira who were no longer kids, but young adults. 

"Oooh, I love this kid!" Peaches was leaning in to kiss Jyll's cheek after Jyll had graciously thanked her for the simple cream-colored sweater that was exactly the kind of thing Jyll liked to wear. Peaches was a lot of fun. She wouldn't be Aunt Peaches or Great-Aunt Peaches, but just plain Peaches to everyone she knew. Her husband, Russ had given her the nickname long ago. 

The tradition of two oddly-matched sisters had begun with Jyll's grandmother, Rioko and her great-aunt Peaches. Rioko was the older sister of that pair, and she had always been the more studious and serious sister. Peaches was the younger sister, and she had always been wild, loud, and flamboyant. The tradition continued, of course, with Rioko's daughters Janine and Claudia. And finally, there were Jyll and Joy, but the tables had been turned since little sister Jyll was the genius of the pair. 

"Last one," Claudia placed a small box wrapped in red paper on the table, and it matched Jyll's cheeks. The thirteen year old was far too shy to be the center of attention for so long. "From your uncle Will and me. Girls, come see Jyll open her present!" 

Claudia and Will were... _you guessed it_... married! They had been married for eight years in fact! Although they did not have any biological children, they had adopted two girls into the family. Their daughters, Nayen and Chae were seated in the kitchen at a small table since it was a very tight squeeze in the dining room. They hadn't minded a bit; they were happily eating cake and playing with their Barbies. When Claudia called to them, they rushed in hurriedly and stood on either side of Jyll. 

Seven-year-old Chae was from China, and she had been adopted when she was just a baby. Four years later, Claudia and Will adopted Nayen who had been five years old at the time and was from from Korea. (Nayen had recently turned nine.) Nayen and Chae were the farthest thing from oddly-matched sisters. They had plenty in common and got along pretty well most of the time. Claudia was amazed at how the two girls hardly ever bickered. 

Claudia homeschooled her daughters, and in addition to being their full-time teacher and mother, she had fulfilled a dream of owning her own art gallery. She and Will had owned and operated the Yamakawa Contemporary Gallery as a husband-wife business team for five years. Because the gallery was located in New York City, so were Claudia, Will, Nayen, and Chae. Today Claudia and her daughters visited Stoneybrook for Jyll's birthday, but Will stayed behind to oversee an exibit at the gallery. 

Jyll had known what the gift would be before she opened it. For Joy's thirteeth birthday, Aunt Claudia had given her a beautiful silver locket. Jyll opened the box, and she had indeed received a locket of her own. Both Jyll and Joy were quick to notice that it was the exact same locket that was hanging around Joy's neck. 

Joy sat up straight in her chair. _The same one?_ She felt a slight twinge in her stomach. She had suspected that Jyll might get a locket, but... the same one? The girls had never received the same gift before. Somehow Joy didn't feel like the precious keepsake that she always wore around her neck had quite as much meaning now that Jyll owned the same one. Even so, she kept her mouth shut. Jyll was beaming and showing the necklace to Gretchen. 

Still stunned, Joy fingered her own silver locket, and made eye contact with her aunt. Claudia smiled and Joy forced the corners of her mouth to turn upward in response. She tried not to let on that her feelings were _slightly_ hurt. 

She and her oddly-matched sister now owned the same locket.   


* * *

  


**A/N:** I'm doing away with having an entire chapter-page for author's notes. I don't like it afterall. I _think_ it kind of threw off my update though. Let that be a lesson to everyone. Don't try to trick fanfiction.net. 

**A/N2:** In case you noticed, a lot of these are original characters. The ones who are NOT mine are: Claudia, Janine, their parents, Will Yamakawa (but his brothers and parents are mine), Peaches, Russ, and Lynn (but her brother and sister are mine.) And of course, Mimi. Bless her heart, wasn't she wonderful? 


	4. History Repeats Itself

A few hours later, Joyanna sat upstairs in her bedroom, fuming. She wasn't particularly mad about the locket, although it still puzzled her that Jyll was given the same one. (Did Aunt Claudia have no concept of how different they were? Why would she give Jyll the same gift?) 

The real reason she was upset was because during the entire time that the family had been together, nothing was said about the play. No one said, "Congratulations on getting the lead role, Joy." That was, of course, because her mother forgot to make a single mention of it at dinner. They were all too busy raving about Jyllina's first week as a thirteen-year-old ninth grader. 

The jealousy was too much for Joy to handle. Tears stung her eyes as she flung a fist into her pillow. Even worse was the feeling that no one would understand. She couldn't call up her friend Michelle and complain because Michelle was dealing with a problem of her own. 

Michelle had been cast as Joy's understudy. Joy could tell that she was upset about the situation, too. All things considered, Joy figured Michelle wouldn't be the best person to vent her frustrations to. 

So in addition to being jealous of little sister getting all the attention at dinner, Joy was also feeling guilty about the way the play had been cast. She couldn't help but wonder if Michelle was going to be jealous of _her._ It wasn't how she had planned it at all. Jealousy, as Joy well knew at the moment, felt awful. She didn't want that feeling for herself or for Michelle. 

"Hey, there." 

Joy was nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of her aunt's voice. She had been staring at the television while letting her mind wander and had become somewhat detatched from reality. She smiled sheepishly at her aunt, who was giving her an odd look. 

"I was just, um you know, thinking." 

"Oh, I see," Claudia nodded. "Well, the girls are going to bed, and they just wanted to come and tell you goodnight." 

The other relatives had gone home, but Claudia, Nayen, and Chae were spending most of the weekend at the Yamakawa's home. It had been Janine's idea since she adored her two adopted nieces and liked having her little sister around as well. Nayen and Chae would be sleeping in Jyll's room which meant that Jyll and Joy would both sleep in Joy's room. 

"Already going to bed?" It was only nine 'o clock. 

Claudia shrugged. "Nayen has always liked going to bed early and getting up early. And Chae mostly does whatever her sister does. I hope they'll let you sleep in tomorrow. I talked to Nayen about that." 

"It's okay if they don't," said Joy. She loved her little cousins dearly. 

"See, Mommy, Joy doesn't mind," Nayen's little voice was heard, and sure enough, she and Chae stood in the doorway. Nayen grinned shyly when she caught Joy's eye. Chae wasn't nearly as shy, bounding towards Joy and tackling her with a great hug. Nayen followed a bit more gracefully and wrapped her arms around Joyanna. 

It was then that Claudia noticed Joy's eyes were awfully bright as though she had been crying or was holding back tears. 

"Scoot, you two," Claudia finally said, and the girls complied. 

"What's up?" Claudia asked after Nayen and Chae had merrily skipped out of the room. Her voice was filled with concern and Joy picked up on the tone, knowing that she had not fooled her aunt. Even still Joy could not decide what to tell her aunt. She bit her lip and stared at her hands. 

"Joy," Claudia gently urged her niece. "What is it?" 

"I guess I'm jealous." There was a lot more to it, but that sumed it all up in a nutshell. "Jealous of Jyll the genius." 

"You've got the right person to talk to then," Claudia chuckled slightly. Joy relaxed slightly, and a few tears slipped out now that her guard was down. She knew, of course, that Aunt Claudia had dealt with many of the same problems growing up. 

Joy finally admitted how disappointed she was that the subject of her play had never come up at dinner. That led her to talk about the worries she had about Michelle. Joy wisely left out the part about Jyll's locket. She didn't want to hurt her aunt's feelings. 

"I'm sorry your mom forgot to mention the play," Claudia gave Joy a little squeeze on her shoulder. "For what it's worth, congratulations. I know you'll be wonderful, and I can't wait to see you in it." 

"Thank you, Aunt Claudia." 

"I think when your mother realizes that she forgot to say anything, she's going to feel awful," Claudia added. "It seems like she's under a lot of stress because of her promotion. You've probably noticed." 

Joy didn't say anything just then because truthfully, she hadn't really taken time to notice. Now that Claudia mentioned it, Joy realized that her mom did seem pretty tired these days. She had been complaining of headaches, too, and forgot about a lot of little things here and there. 

"Don't worry," Claudia spoke up, when Joy did not respond. "I'm sure your mom will be back to normal once she gets into her new routine. Now, what's this about Michelle?" 

"I don't know what to do," Joy sighed. "I'm glad I got the lead, but I feel terrible that Michelle is understudying me. It would have been a lot easier if Michelle had been given the part she wanted. She didn't want to be Nora at all. She wanted to be Christine. Now I'm Nora, and she's my understudy. I don't know how Michelle feels or what I should say to her." 

"That sounds like something that happened between my friends, Kristy and Jessi." At a loss for good advice, Claudia resorted to telling Joy a story. It seemed to work because Joy appeared interested and wanted to know more. Claudia explained what had happened when Stoneybrook put on _Peter Pan._

"Kristy got the leading role, and Jessi was cast as the assistant choreographer. We all thought that was a pretty big honor, but Jessi didn't see it that way. Her feelings were hurt because she didn't get to be the one on stage. It's funny how it turned out though. Jessi ended up having to fill in for the guy who played Nana and the Crocodile. It all worked out for the best. The little boy who played Michael was terrified of the crocodile, but with his babysitter Jessi in the costume, he wasn't scared anymore, and he was able to do the scene." 

"Sounds neat. I'm glad that everything worked out for Jessi and Kristy," Joy said, brightening a little. "I really hope things work out for Michelle and me." She paused. "Hey, Aunt Claud? What did _you_ do in the play?" 

"Guess." 

"Did you act?" 

"Oh, _no!"_ Claudia burst out laughing. "Me, act? No way." 

Joy laughed, too. "I think I know. You designed the sets!" 

"You got it." 

"I'll bet they were _beautiful,_ too." 

"Well, I did have some help. They turned out very nicely," Claudia mused over the memory for a moment. "I'm glad we talked, sweetheart. Now I'd better go tuck Chae and Nayen into bed." 

Claudia rose, and left the room. On her way out, she nearly ran into Jyll who was coming in at the same time. 

"I guess we're roommates for the night," Jyll came into Joy's room already wearing her pajamas and sat primly on the end of Joy's bed. She took a look at her older sister's face and asked, "Have you been crying?" 

"A little," Joy could not hide the fact since her puffy eyes and red face had given her secret away. "Aunt Claudia and I were talking." 

"Gosh..." Jyll looked like she wanted to say something, but she trailed off. She did not want to admit this, but she had listened to part of the conversation outside the door. The second part of what she had heard was about Joy and a friend from school, but the first part had been about Jyll. 

Joy's feelings about Jyll starting high school a year early were not unknown to Jyll. Naturally, she had also known for a long time that Joy was jealous because she wasn't the genius of the family. It was logical that Joy would be jealous, bu it still hurt to hear the words coming directly from her mouth. It seemed that there was nothing Jyll could do about it. 

"What?" 

"I-I um," Jyll stammered, trying to find the right words. "I sometimes wish I was as close to Aunt Claudia as you are. You two seem to have a tighter bond." 

"Well, I could say the same about you and Mom." 

"Are you upset because Mom didn't mention the play tonight?" Jyll got to the point rather quickly. Too quickly for Joy. _Good thing you're so smart, Jyll, because you sure don't know how to play dumb._

"You were listening to Aunt Claudia and I, weren't you? 

"No I wasn't!" Jyll tried to lie, but it was no use. Joy saw right through her. "Okay, fine, I was. I didn't mean to. I couldn't help it." 

"OH RIGHT!" Joy spun away angrily. "Jyll, just do me a favor and stay out of my private conversations. And how about not hogging all of the attention while you're at it." 

"Hogging all of the..." It was Jyll's turn to get angry. "Oh, please, Joyanna, I most certainly do not hog anyone's attention. Your little play was merely overlooked tonight since we were celebrating my birthday. No one forgot about it. Not like we _could._ You're going to remind us every minute of the--" 

"SHUT UP!" Joy yelled. To her own horror and disbelief, she actually raised a hand as if she were going to hit her sister. 

Both girls were stunned momentarily, and they froze. Joy lowered her hand. Neither sister knew what to say. Joy backed away and headed for the bathroom without another word. Jyll burried her face in her hands as she tried not to cry. Needless to say, it had not been the best birthday by a long shot. 


	5. But This Was Janine

A/N: I apologize for taking so long. The best excuse I can give is that I was caught up writing a critical analysis of "Utopia." If anyone has ever read that, you understand. To the person who complained because I take so long to update, I'm *trying* to speed it up. It takes time for me to write something that I think is good. I *THINK* this is good. I need reviews to tell me whether or not that is true, and why or why not.   
  


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"Good morning, good morning, good morning! It's time to rise 'n shine!" Chae was singing and skipping around the breakfast table at 9:30 on Saturday morning. The seven-year old had just finished watching an hour of her favorite cartoons, and consequently, she was wound up. 

"...Good morning, good morning, good morning! I hope you're feelin' fine!" After finishing the silly song, she plopped into a chair next to Joy, titled her head to the side, and grinned widely. "What are we doin' today, Joy-joy?" 

"What would you like to do?" Joy answered Chae's question with a question in hopes that the little girl had already come up with her own idea. She knew kids well enough to know that they were usually full of ideas and loved to make plans. 

"We could all go to the library," Jyll suggested, out of the blue. 

Jyll was sitting right across from Joy, and Joy had to hold back the urge to do something incredibly immature like stick her tongue out at her sister or make a horrible face or say, "I wasn't asking you," which was precisely what she would have said, had there not been two little kids watching her. Joy and Jyll had never really settled their conflict on Friday night. Against their mother's advice never to go to bed angry, they had done just that. 

"What would we do there?" It was Nayen who asked the question that had been on the tip of Joy's tongue as well. "Get books?" 

"You could do that," Jyll said. "But I was thinking that we could listen to this lady who reads books to the kids. She does all the characters' voices and everything. Last week, I saw a sign posted announcing she would give three readings today, one at 10:00, one at 11:00, and one at 1:00." 

Even Joy had to admit that wasn't such a bad idea. Chae and Nayen looked interested, Claudia and Janine both nodded in approval. 

"But I'm going to need to stay home today." Janine hardly looked awake as she said this. She was seated the table, resting her head in her hands and massaging her left temple. Her eyes closed as she spoke. "I'm sorry, girls, but I just can't go. I have an awful headache this morning." 

Janine was supposed to be helping Claudia wash the breakfast dishes, but she had taken a moment to sit down. Her head was pounding so much that she could barely think straight. 

"Sure, mom," Joy studied Janine's face. Did she look at little pale? Was she alright? 

"You could use some rest," Jyll added. 

"She sure could," Claudia confirmed, having noticed that her sister looked particularly worn down upon their arrival yesterday. Then she had just chalked it up to a full day at work combined with getting ready for a ton of houseguests. Now there seemed to be something more to Janine's sudden fatigue. 

Then again, Claudia could hardly consider herself an expert on her sister. She did know that Janine commuted from Stoneybrook to New Haven on a daily basis. Surely that had to take its toll. Still, Janine had been making that commute for more than two years now. There _had_ to be something else wrong. 

"I think I'll stay home to visit with your mom," Claudia told them. James had a trial in Stamford that morning, and he had left before anyone else in the house had woken up. Claudia did not think Janine looked like she should be left home alone. 

Since they were already dressed and ready for the day, the four girls decided to catch the 10:00 AM reading. The Yamakawas lived close enough to the library for them to walk. In order to make it on time, they left in a hurry. Before they went out of the door, Joy felt compelled to turn around and say, "Mom, you're okay, aren't you?" 

"I'm fine, hon." 

Joy nodded and blew her a kiss as they left. 

* * *

It happened at precisely 10:03 AM. Claudia had looked at the clock on the VCR when she heard the thud from upstairs. She only hesitated an instant before she dropped the paperback she'd been reading in the living room, an old Nancy Drew novel that she'd given to Joy along with the rest of her collection. Her heart pounding, she raced up the stairs and into the master bedroom. 

Later she would think to herself that God had surely placed the idea in Jyll's head for the girls to go to the library for storytime. Later she would, in horror, wonder what she would have done if the girls had been at home. Later she would remember that nothing was ever a coincidence because coincidence did not exist. 

Claudia nearly fainted herself when she saw Janine sprawled out on the floor. Janine had told Claudia that she was tired and needed to go back for to bed for awhile. It was apparent that she had been about to do just that before she had collapsed. 

Breathing heavily, Claudia got down beside her. "Janine, can you hear me? Janine?!" 

Janine drew in a sharp breath, and began shaking violently. Claudia withdrew, helpless, as she witnessed Janine's seizure. It lasted a few seconds, and then Janine was still again. In those seconds, Claudia managed to grab the phone and dial 911. The operator was on the line with her by the time Janine stopped. 

"My sister just collapsed and she's unconscious," Claudia surprised herself by sounding calm, though inwardly she was screaming for help as loudly as she could. "She just h-had a seizure of some sort. We're in her room. I'm alone with her and..." 

She could barely stop talking long enough to allow the operator to ask for the address and tell her that an ambulance was coming. "I need you to stay on the line," the man said. 

Claudia hadn't taken her eyes off Janine, who was still, but her breathing was loud and deliberate. She was alive, that was certain. _Oh, God_

"Does she have a pulse? Is she breathing?" he asked. 

"She's breathing." Claudia grabbed Janine's wrist, unsure if breathing neccessary ensured that Janine had a pulse. At the moment, she wasn't sure of anything. She was just plain scared out of her wits. She did remember enough to take her sister's wrist to determine if she had a pulse. "And she has a pulse." 

"Good. You need to keep her warm until we get there. Find a blanket to cover her with. Slippers, if she has any. Can you get these things and keep her in your sight?" 

Claudia choked out a yes, and retrieved these things while clinging to the phone and keeping her eyes glued on Janine, who thankfully, wasn't having any more seizures. Although, at the time, Claudia couldn't decide which was worse, Janine lying there motionless or experiencing frightening convulsions. 

As she grabbed fuzzy slippers and the blanket from the bed, Claudia felt like her thirteen-year-old self when she'd witnessed Mimi's stroke. But this was Janine, not Mimi. And what had happened? What on earth had just happened to Janine? Claudia barely had time to think about it because the man on the other end of the line kept talking to her and giving her instructions that she numbly followed until the paramedics arrived. 

The doorbell rang, and she was forced to let Janine out of her sight to let them in. She sprinted downstairs, and opened the door, relieved to see a team of men with a stretcher. She was ready to fall into the arms of one of them and cry, but right now she had to suppress the urge to fall apart. She had to hold herself together until the paramedics had Janine. 

The next few minutes were a blur as the attendants put Janine on the stretcher and into the ambulance. All Claudia knew was that they checked Janine's vital signs and determined nothing other than the fact that she was still breathing and had a pulse, confirming what Claudia had told them. "Does she have a history of epilepsy?" someone asked. 

"N-no, no she doesn't," Claudia stammered a bit, having to remind herself what epilepsy was. She only remembered because she had once babysat for a child with epilepsy, and she knew that they tended to have seizures. 

"Try to stay calm," one of the attendants, a woman, put a hand on Claudia's shoulder. It took a steady hand to make Claudia realize that she was shaking. She wiped away the tears that were determined to fall at that moment, and then crossed her arms across her body, holding herself tightly to keep from shaking. "Can you ride with us to the hospital?" 

"Okay," Claudia replied in a small voice. She was reminded of how Janine had ridden to the hospital with Mimi. What had Janine been feeling then? Claudia had waited at home for her parents to return. It had been the longest wait of her life. 

Claudia ran back in the house to retrieve her purse and the keys to the house. She was thinking clearly enough now to lock the door behind her. She then sprinted back to the ambulance, where Janine had already been loaded into the back. 

"Anyone you need to call?" the same woman asked Claudia this after she was seated in the front seat of the ambulance. Claudia, in her moment of clarity, hadn't thought of this. Now that she did, she hunched over and covered her face in agony as they pulled out of the driveway. 

"The girls," she moaned. Then she remembered the rest. "And James. Our parents. Oh, lord." 


End file.
